Who is Quinn anyway?

I want to write a blog post.  But this, I am finding, is not the easies thing to do.  It is a simple equation that has to be in place for it to happen:

 

Subject + time + motivation = post 

 

I seem to be frequently lacking one of the three ingredients.  Sometimes two.  Sometimes all of them. 

 

Right now I have two of them, but am lacking 'subject' portion.  Hence the hedging.  I thought I might write about what Q is up to.  Then I thought, what is he up to anyway? 

 

Well, he is using more and more words.  Tia spent some time recording them, but now that seems quaint.  He seems to discover a new word a day.  It is interesting what sticks and what doesn't though.  He knows mommy, daddy, his friends Mona and Faye, but seems to never utter the name of our nanny who he spends considerable time with.  He can reliably point out airplanes, find rainbows, locate nearly all his body parts, and blow kisses, but can't remember where his nose is.  

 

He has grown incredibly mischevious, although mostly in adorable ways.  He almost always precedes his acts with a wry smile and direct eye contact before locating a belly button, tickling toes, draining the water out of his bath (repeatedly) or rifling through every cabinet without a lock. 

 

He fully understands how to play with the cats via their cat toys, but reliably gows bored with this in short order and turns them into swatting sticks (never underestimate the casual cruelty of children......they just don't understand causation). 

 

He is filling up his upper gums with teeth, but manages just the pair on the bottom. 

 

He still loves hats of all kinds and would rather wrestle on the mattress than just about anything else. 

 

He shows his affection through very deliberate (and very gentle) head bonks, which he will reliably dole out upon request. 

 

He loves to dance. 

 

He is tempermental. 

 

He is excedingly clever. 

 

He hates to be ignored, even if it just for a few minutes and was doing something on his own anyway. 

 

He loves to be outside.  He would prefer to be outside naked.  

 

He is shy in large groups.  

 

He laughs easily and often (and infectiously).  

 

He loves cereal in the morning with his mom.

 

He loves emptying the diswasher.  

 

He hates having his diaper changed.  It is like changing a whirlwind.  

 

He has discovered (much to our dismay) shrieking.  

And he changes a little bit every day.  

 

As for things that are not changing, work remains the same.  Still no help, but also little interference.  Still no idea when the clinic will pass into other hands nor if I will be around to see it go (of my own volition).  In the interim, just trying to hang on.

Found a new blog I had to share.  So funny. Check it out if you get a chance.  

 

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/07/dog.html

RBC you ain't messing with me

Competence should be the least of anyone's expectations when seeing a professional in any field.  I want my hairstylist to have it.  The chef at a restaurant.  The server.  The staff at a local fast food eatery.  My doctor.  And so on.   So why is it so hard to find?

Tia and I have been trying, largely in vain it seems, to find someone to help us investing our money.  We were with Ameriprise, but some thin skin and general weirdness turned that sideways quickly.  We then met with a fellow recommended from a patient, and he was nice, professional, and flexible, but we, for whatever reason, just lacked faith in his ability to advise us (his background did not mesh with the financial field, not even tangentally and his fees were also on the high side).  We then took a recommendation from Tia's sister, which found us is one of the fancy high rises downtown.  They were very professional, very formal, and seemed to have a good grasp on the market.   We thought about it and, though we were a bit uneasy about their investment strategy (diversification was more or less related to how they parsed the money between large and mega cap stocks, not through sprinkling money in ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and stocks), we thought we would give it a go.  Well, their usual assistant was evidently out the week we submitted paperwork and the replacement made a few erros.  We emailed about them and they told us to just 'scratch them out and write the correct numbers.'  We felt uncomfortable with that and requested, when their regular assistant returned, new corrected paperwork.  This is the email chain that followed (edited to only pertain to the issue at hand):

1. sent to RBC on 9/29

Hi John,

I was signing the paperwork and had a few questions for you.

1) The fee you listed in the email was 1.25%, but the paperwork says 1.5%.  Which is correct?  It also says that it is the % or $500, whichever is greater.  Is the $55 minimum per account?  It looks like i have 5 accounts and Bryan has 2, so that could add up quickly if it is $500 per account.

Tia

2. Response on 9/30 from RBC

Tia,

I did not look at the paperwork before it was sent out...the correct annual fee is 1.25%; we can either send new paperwork, or you can scratch out the 1.5% and replace with 1.25% on the form.

James is back in today, so we'll work with him to get things finalized. My apologies for the goof-up.

Thank you both for your patience.

John

3.  To RBC on 9/30 

John,

I'm sure you can understand, based on our previous experience, that we're not thrilled that there is already an error right out of the gate.  Do you not have review processes in place?  Are there steps in place to make sure errors don't happen when it comes to actually dealing with our funds?

Thanks,
Tia

4. From RBC on 9/30

Tia,

Excuses are lame, but this happened during a long-scheduled week off by James Galloway, Tom's and my client associate. The woman who stood in for James does an excellent job, yet the advisors she usually supports have fee schedules that don't track with our team's. If anyone's to be blamed here, it has to be me.

While I cannot guarantee that there will never be another oversight, I hope you understand both our diligence to getting errors remedied, as well as our commitment to avoiding them in the first place.

Don't hesitate to call Tom or me should you wish to discuss this further. Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

John

5. To RBC 10/1

Hello,

In thoroughly reading through the paperwork we were sent to sign, there are several errors.  We don't want to judge your team on the work of someone you don't usually work with.  Can we have James complete the paperwork for us to sign and have him re-mail it?  You can leave Bryan as the beneficiary for all of the accounts, but we need them filled out so he can approve trades as well.

Thank you,
Tia

6. To RBC 10/8 after receiving no response nor any paperwork

John, James, et al,

I was writing about the paperwork that was, I thought, going to be sent out again.  We have yet to receive anything, nor any further correspondence regarding the matter.  Is the paperwork on its way to us? 

If the paperwork has not been sent out, I think we will look elsewhere for assistance with our investments.  Unfortunately, due to our previous history with Ameriprise, we are not inclined to move forward with this many missteps at the outset.

Regards,

Bryan and Tia Kauffman

7. From RBC on 10/8

Tia,

Responding to your email, below, with the exception of the fee mis-statement, our sense is that we've performed as promised. Here's a brief timeline of what's gone on from our perspective:

9-20-13 James called Brian, who confirmed he received the email with the client worksheets and would get the information back to James when he had a chance.

9-24-13 The account forms were completed, in James' absence, buy a backup client associate in our office based on Brian's information and mailed to your address of record.

10-1-13 The forms included an erroneous fee, of which you informed us; I told you the fee would be corrected.  James sent forms giving the spouse Trading Authority for all accounts and left a voice message for you telling her the forms were mailed and if you had any questions to please call James. the next we heard from you was your email of yesterday.

The paperwork sent to you - again with the exception of the fee amount (which was changed immediately when you brought it to our attention) - is exactly as Brian originally filled out in longhand and returned to us. Yet, you say in your email of October 1, below, that "there are several errors".

Frankly, we're a bit perplexed at what is your obvious frustration. As far as I can see, "this many mis-steps" is limited to an immediately-corrected fee error in the original documents returned to you and Brian for signature. None of us have been able to identify the other, "several errors" you mention in your e-mail of October 1.

Tom, James, and I take client service very seriously and endeavor to provide all clients a level of service and response that will, at the very least, meet their expectations; in practice, we think that most feel we exceed those expectations. We regret that you, quite clearly, don't feel the same way. Any of us are available to discuss this further and would be pleased to call you if you'll let us know a convenient time.

Obviously, it's your call on where to go from here.

sincerely,

John

8.  My response 10/9

John,

On October the 1st, Tia emailed a request to you and to James requesting all the original paperwork be re-sent to us with corrected fee information.  My inquiry was largely related to whether or not this has been addressed and new paperwork sent out.  If this has not occurred, we can conclude our business and move on.  If it has been sent out, as we had requested, we can move forward once it arrives.  We have received the other paperwork James sent out on the 1st, but not the paperwork we requested. 

Regards,

Bryan Kauffman

9. Response (evasion) from RBC 10/9

Brian,

I've left a message on your cell for you to call...suffice it to say, we're confused.

John

10. Tia re-forwards the original email detailing our request.

11. Response from RBC 10/9

Tia,

I would really  appreciate either you giving me a call, or letting me know a convenient time I could call you to discuss what's going on here in person.

thank you,

John

12.  At this point, we give up and let them know we won't be working with them. 

So, in summation, this is all about a packet of paperwork they sent us that had the wrong charge information.  They offered to "either send new paperwork, or you can scratch out the 1.5% and replace with 1.25% on the form."  We requested new paperwork and, evidently, this proved mystifying.

Also, don't let the backdoor hit ya on the way out.  We don't knowingly invest with fools.  

Investments & tat pic

I feel like I am pretty well informed about investing money.  I know the difference between a stock and a bond (FYI: the difference is owning a piece of a company and loaning money), and how bond prices correlate with interest rates (inverse).  I understand, roughly, what the words, large cap, mega cap, small cap and mid cap mean.  I know what a mutual fund is vs. an EFT.  I even have a good handle on compounding interest.  So, why is it that I feel utterly lost when I start reading about managing it without an advisor?

I think the big problem is time.  I am never inclined to act terribly quickly until I am ready...and then I just go!  But, I like to read, research, and feel comfortable with my decision before making it.  This, unfortunately, does not always lead to the best decisions, but I like to believe it leads to more of them than not.  So, when looking into investing, I want a deeper understanding of what I am doing.  Only the market is so complex that it is hard to grasp it's intricacies.  I think that is why so many people, even financial advisors, just use mutual funds.  They dont really have to do or know much other than look at fund performance and understand the mixes inside those funds and try to match them to their investor profiles (or in many cases, just suggest proprietary funds that offer a better financial renumeration for themselves). 

The facts are pretty straightforward, though short term volatile.

1. The longer you are in it for (the longer you have until retirement) the more you should be in the stock market.  Historically, you will find no better return rate.  However, you must be willing to look away when the market tumbles and not panic.  Panic here is the enemy.  If you sell when it is falling and buy when it is rising, you will lose money.  But, it takes a certain kind of intestinal fortitude to buy when everyone else is selling.  I guess you should just think of it like a sale.  "Microsoft is 25% off today!" 

2.  Savings and CDs are a security blanket and nothing more.  They are akin to a raft with a slow leak.  You may make it to the shore, but your raft will be in bad shape.  With the average inflation being over 2.2% over the last decade (http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation/DecadeInflation.asp) and the average interest rate on savings being less than half that (most less than 25% of that number) you are losing purchasing power.  This is something I know and have a hard time letting go of. 

3.  Investing in precious metals like gold is a fools game (http://www.nber.org/papers/w18759), which is why the real money is in buying it under value (CASH4GOLD) and selling it at market price.  This model of buying for less than something is worth and then selling for what it is actually worth will, of course, work with EVERYTHING.   

4. Your own home is generally not a great overall investment, though it is better than savings:

The ultra-long-term reality is that, according to data from Robert Shiller, the real (inflation-adjusted) return on house prices has been just about 0%, albeit punctuated by some sharp booms and busts along the way. While many have built significant long-term equity in their homes, it has been less about real investing returns and more about the simple result of investing with leverage in something that appreciates at the rate of inflation, and having a mortgage obligation as a form of "forced savings." In addition, living in a personal residence saves the cost of paying rent elsewhere, and that shelter-as-return can ultimately enhance wealth…with the caveat that it must be balanced against the impact of paying mortgage interest (as paying more in mortgage interest than you would have paid in rent can actually result in less wealth, not more).  It should really be viewed as an asset, not an investment for the reasons listed above and the lack of 'liquidity' it offers. 

So, how should you invest your money?  Hell if I know.  Just know that no one else really does either (or at least not the people who will be sharing it with investment magazines, tv shows, or your personal advisor).  The people who have a pretty strong idea are already wealthy and probably gathering even more wealth as we speak.  The rest of us are just trying to guess correctly.  And the major word I hear over and over again is diversification.  Put your acorns in many tiny holes and hope that some of them survive the winter.  In the meantime, strongly consider hollowing out a mattress and filling it with cash, start a successful (though short lived, highly dangerous, and ultimately leads to the destruction of your family) meth empire, or give it to someone who most convincingly feigns to understands any of this but is, for a small fee, somehow willing to share this information with you.  But ultimately, just feel damn lucky you have to consider it all in the first place vs. living in a situation where you are far more focused on the base of the pyramid in Maslow's heirarchy of needs.

Oh yeah, and here is my tattoo: